SPOILER ALERT!!!!!! LEARN YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here we are. The Top 10. It becomes very difficult to distinguish between the quality of these games at this point. How do you measure what makes these games good? Does it make a difference if it's a handheld as opposed to a console game? I had to think of all of these questions when compiling this list. While I have complete in this list, it's a very difficult thing to distinguish between 10 games that truly are great.
10. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (2009 Nintendo DS)
The second of the stylus controlled Zelda games, Spirit Tracks feels like a do over. When Phantom Hourglass (PH) first came out on the DS in 2007, many people were disappointed with the somewhat jerky and at times imprecise stylus controls. Zelda fans in general felt that Nintendo needed to deliver on the promises they made with the first DS Zelda game. Thankfully, Nintendo more than made up for the disappointing experience that was Phantom Hourglass; in pretty much every conceivable way.The game begins 100 years after the events of Phantom Hourglass with a young Link hard at work in his home town of Aboda Village in Hyrule. Link, an apprentice train engineer, has finally earned the full rank of Train Engineer and has been tasked by his Master Alfonzo, the Greatest Train Engineer in Hyrule, with traveling to Hyrule Castle to receive his Engineer's Certificate. When Link arrives at Hyrule Castle and is presented with his certificate he is discreetly told by Princess Zelda that she suspects Chancellor Cole and Byrne, two of her advisors, are secretly working against her.
She decides that in order to figure out what is going on and why the tracks around Hyrule have been disappearing, they must travel to the Tower of Spirits. As the two depart for the Tower the track beneath them suddenly disappears and the train crashes. Chancellor Cole and Byrne appear, they kill Zelda (for reals), take her body, and leave Link for dead. We learn later that Zelda's spirit still remains in Hyrule (only Link can see her) and that Chancellor Cole and Byrne plan to release the evil Malladus from his prison beneath the Tower of Spirits. Malladus is a new addition to the Zelda universe and a welcome addition he is. Many of the Zelda handhelds choose to have an antagonist apart from Ganon and I always applaud Nintendo when they take risks like creating a new villain. I do wish though (as my friend Jordan rightly points out) you don't really see much of Malladus until the end of the game. When you do see him it's awesome, but I wish Nintendo could have highlighted this new character more throughout the story instead of focusing for so long on Chancellor Cole and Byrne.The story in this game is, in a sense, a carbon copy of Phantom Hourglass. Link will continually visit the Tower of Spirits throughout the game, just like the Temple of the Ocean King in PH, Link has a train and tracks to get around the world instead of a ship and the ocean to navigate, and instead of an old man to help you out through the story (Oshus from PH) we get Anjean (older lady). Some of you might say, well than if this game is just Phantom Hourglass with a different skin, why the heck should I drop 40 bucks on it? The answer is simple, this game does everything and more that Phantom Hourglass does in much more fun and efficient ways.
To start, the overworld map and traveling around it are immensely more enjoyable. Instead of the clunky boat, with frankly terrible controls, we get a train with three speeds: normal, fast, and reverse. As you travel across the overworld, unlocking new regions and tracks, you will notice how much more cohesive and connected the world seems. Traveling on the tracks here actually feels like you are going somewhere with purpose whereas on the ocean in PH I felt pretty disconnected to
the whole world. Traveling from place to place there had no sense of adventure, no sense of accomplishment; I really just wanted it to be over. With the train, while at first pretty limited, you only have so many routes you can go, but it feels like a more authentic experience. While you can't actually get off of the train until you reach a destination, you can still interact with certain things in the environment, including some kamakazi armored trains that will prove to be the bane of your existence (running from these guys can actually be pretty fun).
The NPC's in this game in this game are a wonderful part of the overall experience. We get back every NPC from PH except it's their ancestor 100 years in the future. And of course, we get the return of the ever pompous and always overconfident Linebeck, although in this game he is Linebeck the 3rd. Linebeck has a much diminished role in this game compared to his previous one in PH, but his role is no less important. Linebeck runs his own trading post in this game, the place where you can not only sell the treasure you find but can also trade it in for better train parts. I really enjoy the train customization parts of the game and the fact that you get to deal with the condescending Linebeck is a real treat. I also love that they once again included Beedle, and he rides around in a balloon. I must say though that I was a bit disappointed in the "Lokomos" in this game, the elders that are in charge of each realm respectively. They all have different names, look quite similar, and are honestly quite forgettable. My favorite NPC's in this game though are the Anouki. The Anouki are a new race introduced here in Spirit Tracks and you will encounter them in the Snow Realm. The section of the game where you have to help them out is definitely one of the better experiences of this title. I also just love how they look, look at their little horns!! I really hope these guys make an appearance again in the Zelda universe; after all, they are located in Hyrule so it's not out of the realm of possibility.
As you travel through the game and explore all of the other locales, you will obtain a cannon for the train which allows you to fight off those armored trains. Riding around the train and shooting the cannon is actually quite a fun experience. The only downside to the train is the fact that there is no fast traveling. Now, you don't really ever have to go from one end of the map to the other, but sometimes you will end up having to travel a large distance and that can get kind of tedious; but this is a small complaint compared to how fun it is overall.
The items you use in this game also take excellent advantage of the unique DS controls. One item that has to be mentioned is the Whirlwind. Blow onto the mic and a gust of wind bursts forth, knocking out enemies and helping
solve certain puzzles. All of the items in this game just feel so right with the controls. The whip, the bombs, the bow, and the boomerang are all a complete pleasure to use. One last item I have to mention, a unique item to this game, is the Sand Wand. You don't get it until much later in the game, but it allows you to raise squares of sand up wherever you move the wand with your stylus. Even though you don't get to use the item all that much, it just makes me tingle in that special place. Nintendo needs to bring this item to a new Zelda game, or at least something else involving manipulation of the environment.
These items of course could not be complete without some excellent dungeons to use them in and this game more than delivers on that. There are five main dungeons, one in each realm, and the Tower of Spirits; which is visited after each temple. Unlike the tedious Temple of the Ocean King in PH, you don't have to backtrack through any part of the Tower of Spirits. Instead, the goal is to reach the uppermost floor, solving all of the puzzles along the way. To help you do this, Princess Zelda's spirit can possess the phantoms that walk the halls of the tower. These phantoms are dead set on making sure you do not reach the top and can return you to the start of the floor with one swing of their sword. Zelda can take possession of them and then team up with Link to make their way up the tower. When Zelda is possessing a Phantom, the player controls her path by drawing where she should go and who she should attack with the stylus. The Tower of Spirits is challenging and yet feels nothing at all like the Temple of the Ocean King, despite the fact that it's an extremely similar gameplay mechanic. Nintendo also got rid of the time limit which was completely necessary to make the Tower enjoyable. In PH, the time limit did nothing more than to piss you off, it didn't add to the fun of the Temple at all and it makes plenty of people give up on PH all together. The Tower of Spirits feels like an adventure by itself and this game is worth playing on its merit alone.
However, my favorite dungeon overall in this game has to be the Fire Temple. It just feels like an extremely old school gaming experience. I like the puzzles focused on obstacles, I like the fire, I love how they make you use the bow and arrow in this temple, and I love that you get most places in mine carts. Not enough though could ever be said about the boss fight in this temple with Cragma (Cragma reminds me very much of the boss fight with Eox in Phantom Hourglass, except that this fight is even better). The fight begins with Link on the floor and Cragma towering over him. Link must use a combination of arrow strikes, timing, and dodging in order to defeat Cragma, except that you also have to cope with the fact that you have to ride in a mine cart during most of the battle. After you hit Cragma with a few arrows while on the ground, you will be able to get onto a mine cart and ride up to Cragma's head, hitting him with arrows as you move further up. I just love this battle so darn much (link to Cragma battle), especially the way the game takes advantage of both of the screens (that's why Cragma's body looks cut off in the video). The rest of the boss battles in this game are all quite enjoyable but nothing is better and more challenging than the final confrontation with Malladus. I won't spoil the ending too much but needless to say it involves several stages: destroying a demon train and Malladus in his true form. The battle is pretty darn excellent and it finishes out Spirit Tracks in very strong fashion.
I do have to mention one glaring problem with this game. The problem is the reason that this game is not ranked higher up the list. The musical instrument in this game, the Spirit Flute, just plain sucks. It's extremely difficult to play the damned thing because all of the songs you have to learn require you to blow onto the screen in time with the music. At the same time, you have to move the stylus back and forth to change notes. It seems like a decent enough idea, but executing the songs is just so hard and doesn't make any sense. Sometimes you will play the song while other times you will think you did but the game just tells you to try again. I don't get it and I hate that part of the game so much. Luckily, it's only about 15 total minutes of gameplay and I eventually did learn them; but damned if it wasn't one of the most frustrating experiences I have ever had while gaming.
Besides the problem with the Spirit Flute, the rest of this game is fantastic. I can honestly say that I was blown away at how much of an improvement this game was over Phantom Hourglass. The story is solid, the gameplay mechanics are completely improved, and it truly is a fantastic gaming experience that any Zelda fan absolutely has to try.
Thanks so much for reading! Next up is #9! Nearing the halfway mark!
PS - This game makes some great shout outs to Phantom Hourglass and Wind Waker. If/When you play this game, make sure to look out for them!
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